A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that combines hydrogen fuel and oxygen from the air to produce electricity, heat, and water. Fuel cells do not utilize combustion, and as such, fuel cells produce little if any hazardous effluents. Fuel cells convert hydrogen fuel and oxygen directly into electricity, and can be operated at much higher efficiencies than internal combustion electric generators, for example.
A typical fuel cell power system includes a power section in which one or more stacks of fuel cells are provided. The efficacy of the fuel cell power system depends in part on the integrity of the various contacting and sealing interfaces within individual fuel cells and between adjacent fuel cells of the stack.
A subgasket may be deployed on the electrolyte membrane of a fuel cell to seal the active regions of the fuel cell and to provide dimensional stability to the electrolyte membrane. Under pressure, the edges of fuel cell components in the stack can cause local stress concentrations on the membrane which may cause failure of the fuel cell. Subgaskets provide support to the membranes to reduce the occurrence of this failure mechanism.